


Help Me, Maiden

by Heavenly_Pearl



Series: Dream Lovers [15]
Category: Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon | Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon (Manga), Sailor Moon - All Media Types
Genre: Drama, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-02-29
Updated: 2012-02-29
Packaged: 2017-10-31 22:03:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,421
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/348811
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Heavenly_Pearl/pseuds/Heavenly_Pearl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Helios receives a vision of a beautiful maiden who just might be the one who can save him and Elysion from the evil Queen Nehelenia.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Help Me, Maiden

**Author's Note:**

> DISCLAIMER: "Sailor Moon" is the property of Takeuchi Naoko.
> 
> Written for the sm_monthly community at Livejournal, Theme - Help.

For as long as he could remember, every day as the sun began to set, Helios had gone up to the praying tower in the center of the shrine of Elysion to pray and meditate. Occasionally, he received visions, but those types of revelations were few and far between, and he did not expect to see one that night, despite the sense of foreboding that had taken over him for the last few days.

All was not well in Elysion. A darkness had begun infecting the beautiful dream world. The once-thriving plant life was dying, replaced by desert and ugly black roses, and Helios was constantly coughing up black blood, his sickness an apparent effect of Elysion's condition. He didn't understand what was happening, but he used as much of his weakening power supply as he could spare to pray for Elysion and the Earth's protection from whatever it was that they were fighting against.

However, it was becoming obvious that his prayers alone weren't strong enough to combat the cursed darkness. As Helios kneeled down in front of the tower that night, he prayed fervently for help, surprised when a vision of a beautiful woman appeared before him.

Like the rest of his visions, the figure was completely transparent and mostly colorless. Her hair was long, though, pulled back into a distinctive hairstyle, and a brilliant golden crescent moon was tattooed on her forehead, the only thing of color he could see.

"Helios," she said, her voice melodic, but urgent, "the time has come to break the seal on the Golden Crystal."

"The Golden Crystal?" Helios repeated, confused. The Golden Crystal had been the royal jewel of Earth's ruling family, passed down from generation to generation, but the crystal had disappeared with the death of the last heir, Prince Endymion, during the war with Beryl that had brought the downfall of the Golden Kingdom. At least that was what Helios had assumed, but, if indeed, the crystal could be found, its power would certainly be enough to restore Elysion back to normal. "Where is it?" he demanded to know. "How can I break the seal?"

"Elysion is about to face its toughest trial yet," the woman continued. "I cannot tell you much more, other than to assure you that the maiden is always on your side."

"Maiden?"

"A princess, yet a soldier, protected by moonlight, with a beautiful dream… She is the maiden who possesses the power that will break the seal on the Golden Crystal."

"Who is she?" Helios asked, desperate when he saw the vision about to fade. "Is she you? Who are you?"

"I am…Princess Lady Serenity…"

With those final faint words, the vision disappeared, and Helios sighed, frustrated by the lack of information she had given him. His revelations were always rather vague, but the impending danger made it that much more important that he find this maiden, whoever she was, and break the seal on the Golden Crystal before it was too late. How was he supposed to do that with so little to go on, though? He didn't even know if Princess Lady Serenity was supposed to be the maiden, or if she was just a messenger.

Deciding to check out the shrine's library to see if he could find any other information about Princess Lady Serenity and the Golden Crystal, Helios started to stand, but quickly collapsed, overcome by another bloody coughing fit, even worse than the others. His heart felt as if it was being squeezed from the inside, and the feeling of foreboding he felt deepened to outright fear.

"I have…to find…the maiden," he said between coughing fits, struggling to stand back up. "She must…break the seal…"

A sinister laugh rang out, making the hairs on the back of his neck stand up straight. "Oh, my, look at the weak little priest of Elysion," a deep feminine voice said, coming from behind him. "He can't even stand up. Whatever will he do?"

Helios used all the strength he could to turn around, anger filling his heart when he saw the dark woman standing at the bottom of the stairs leading up to the praying tower. He had never seen her before, but Helios knew instinctively that she was the one behind the evil infecting Elysion.

"Who are…you, and…what do…you want?" he asked, still struggling to stand.

"Oh, allow me to introduce myself. I am Queen Nehelenia of the Dead Moon, soon to be queen of your precious Earth. As you might have guessed, I was the one who put the curse on Elysion. You really should have been more observant, Priest Helios." The dark queen shook her head. "Maybe if you had, you might have had a chance to stop me before it was too late."

"It's not too late. Once I find the -" Helios stopped himself just in time, realizing that it would not be a good idea if she found out about the existence of the Golden Crystal. She might be tempted to look for it herself.

"Find the what?" Nehelenia prodded, not overly concerned when he refused to answer. "Oh, well, it's not important. You see, Helios, I've already won. With Elysion's power significantly weakened, my minions have already infiltrated the Earth. It is only a matter of time before Earth is covered in nightmares as well."

"No…" It couldn't be! His prayers hadn't been enough to protect Earth?

"I'm not the type of woman who is overly confident in her victory to the point of stupidity, however," the queen continued on as if he hadn't said anything at all. "That's why I'm here. You may be just a weakling priest with no real hope of defeating me, but I can't have you walking around free, interfering in my plans. How would like to become my little pet?"

Speaking a language Helios did not recognize, she pointed a finger toward him, and a beam of dark power shot straight at him. Though Helios tried to dodge it, he was still too weak, and the beam hit him in the back, transforming him into a winged uniform trapped in a gilded cage.

"I always did want a Pegasus," Nehelenia cooed, running her hands along the golden bars.

Helios charged toward her in an attempt to break out, only to receive a painful shock when he touched the bars. He cried out in agony, and Nehelenia cackled, obviously enjoying the show.

"You might as well save your strength, horsie. There's nothing you can do to break out of there," she said. "Now, be a good boy while I'm gone. I need to check on our progress, but I'll be back."

With that warning, the dark queen left, and Helios collapsed on the floor of the cage, completely spent. What was he supposed to do now? He couldn't look for the maiden while imprisoned, but if he didn't do something, Earth would almost certainly fall under Nehelenia's evil rule. There had to be some way to escape from the cage.

Helios tried every possibility he could think of to no avail. No matter what he did, the bars always shocked him. He was about to give up for the night and rest when he suddenly remembered his skill in astral projection. Even if his physical body wasn't able to escape, it was possible that he could send his spirit out to search for the maiden.

"It's a long-shot, and I don't have a lot of strength right now, but it may just work," he said, closing his eyes and concentrating on the vision he had received from Princess Lady Serenity.

He soon felt his spiritual self rise out of his body, flying to a place he did not recognize. For the briefest of moments, he saw a group of three people: a handsome man, a pretty teenager, and a young girl. Both girls wore their hair in the same unique style as the woman in his vision, but before he could say much more than "Help me, maiden," he was back in his body, his power depleted.

Helios sighed, wishing he had been able to stay longer, but he was almost certain that one of those girls he had seen was the maiden Princess Lady Serenity spoke of. Closing his eyes, he vowed to return when he had regained some of his strength. With her help, there would still be hope to defeat Nehelenia before it was too late.

 _Help me, maiden,_ he prayed.


End file.
